JP2001171441A - Weatherstrip connecting material mold, weatherstrip connecting method and weatherstrip - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a weatherstrip connecting metal molding improving productivity and appearance, omitting a troublesome process such as the insertion and extraction of a core by an improved connecting method. SOLUTION: This weatherstrip connecting metal mold for connecting a first seal body 12 to a second seal body 13, using a seat piece 17a formed of unvulcanized rubber or thermoplastic elastomer, is provided with a fixed mold 14 for holding the first seat body 12, a moving mold 15 for holding the second seal body 13, and a guide rail 19 mounting the fixed mold 14 and moving mold 15 thereon and allowing them to abut on each other by relative movement. The fixed mold 14 and moving mold 15 respectively have abutting surfaces and can abut on each other at least at part of the abutting surfaces. Either mold has at least a cope and a drag, and the first and second seal bodies 12, 13 can be held between the copes and drags. The copes and drags are openable and closely pivotally supported.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for connecting a weather strip suitable for sealing an opening of a door or a trunk of an automobile, and a weather strip connected by the method. Body and second
A weather strip formed by connecting and integrating a seal body with a connecting seal portion formed between the two,
Alternatively, the first seal body and the second seal body, which are arranged to face each other at a predetermined interval, are used for connecting a weather strip which is integrally connected by forming a connecting seal portion between the two. The present invention relates to a mold, a method of connecting a weatherstrip using the mold, and a weatherstrip obtained by the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an opening of a vehicle such as a door is provided with a weatherstrip so as to eliminate a gap when the opening is closed, thereby preventing rainwater, dust and dirt from entering. Although the shape of the weather strip differs depending on the portion to be mounted, the weather strip is provided with a seal portion that elastically contacts the opening / closing member that forms the opening to exhibit a sealing effect and a fixing portion for fixing the weather strip to the base material.

A weather strip having a hollow seal portion exhibits a sufficient sealing property by elastic contact, and requires a suitable elasticity so that excessive force is not required when closing the opening / closing member. Rubber or thermoplastic elastomer (T
PE) is used as a raw material, and a linear or large arc-shaped seal portion is manufactured as an extruded member by extrusion molding with excellent productivity. The suddenly changing portions such as corners such as corners at the top of the door and the connecting portions of the extruded members of the linear portions are formed by molding.

Accordingly, the first seal member and the second seal member formed by molding are used.
At the connection portion with the seal body, a process of connecting and integrating the end faces after each extrusion molding is required. Also, a pair of seals by extrusion are opposed to each other,
In some cases, these two end surfaces are connected and integrated at a straight portion. Conventionally, the following method has been used to connect and integrate the opposing seals so as to form the weather strip.

[0005] As an example, a case in which a weather strip C is formed by connecting a pair of extruded seal bodies made of a rubber material will be described. First, a hole 22k for inserting a core is formed in a part of the hollow portion of the seal body, and the core n is inserted. Next, as shown in FIG. 9, the first seal body 21 and the second seal body 22 are arranged to face each other at a predetermined interval, and the hollow seal portions 21a, 22 of the two seal bodies 21, 22 are arranged.
The core n is inserted into a, and the two seals 21 and 22 are set in a relatively fixed state.

Next, a mold having a left-right split structure (not shown)
Is set so as to straddle the end of the first seal body 21 and the end of the second seal body 22, and the mold and the two seal bodies 2
A space surrounded by the end faces 1 and 22 and the core n is exposed, and unvulcanized rubber is injected or pressed into the space and vulcanized to cure the end of the first seal 21 and the second seal. The end of the seal body 22 is adhered, and as shown in FIG. 10, the mold is removed after the vulcanization process is completed. Then, the core n is extracted from the core insertion hole 22 k formed on the side surface of the second seal body 22.

In other words, this is a method in which the connecting sheet portion 23 is formed by die molding. The connecting sheet portion 23 can be provided with a hollow portion so as to have the same cross-sectional shape as the first seal member and the second seal member, and can be formed by vulcanization. The sheet pieces are once melted by heating and adapted to the end faces of the two seals, then cross-linked and cured when unvulcanized rubber is used as the sheet piece, and cooled and cured when a thermoplastic elastomer is used. Because it can be integrated, the end faces of both seals can be connected securely and firmly while maintaining their flexibility, compared to a method of connecting using an adhesive such as an instant adhesive. I could do it.

[0008]

However, in the method of connecting a weather strip by molding, the following method is used.
There were inconveniences as described in 1) to 5).

1) It takes time to set the core by inserting it into the hollow portions of both seals.

2) A core insertion hole for inserting and removing a core must be formed in any of the seals in advance, and the man-hour and time required for the hole are required.

3) When removing the core after vulcanization,
The core insertion / extraction hole may be broken, and the defective rate tends to increase.

4) The core insertion hole or the cut portion of the unvulcanized rubber injection path may remain in the product, resulting in poor appearance and water intrusion.

5) When injecting the material of the connection sheet into the mold, the length of the molding portion in the connection direction (corresponding to the above-mentioned "predetermined interval") is increased to some extent in order to facilitate the flow of rubber throughout. For example, it is set to about 5 mm, and the connection portion is conspicuous, and the appearance is not very good.

[0014] Further, even when sealing members having no hollow sealing portion are connected to each other, the sealing member generally has a complicated shape in many cases, and the above-mentioned problem 5) exists. There was room for it.

In view of such circumstances, an object of the present invention is to improve the connection method between the first seal member and the second seal member, thereby eliminating troublesome steps such as insertion and removal of a core, and improving productivity and productivity. A mold suitable for connection between the first seal body and the second seal body, a method for connecting a weatherstrip using the mold, and the connection, in that a weather strip capable of improving appearance can be produced. It is to provide a weatherstrip manufactured by the method. In particular, a mold having a structure that can be implemented using a conventional press machine or the like without requiring extensive equipment remodeling, a mold that does not require finishing treatment after connection, and a weather strip using the mold. A connection method and a weatherstrip connected by the connection method are provided.

[0016]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a weather strip connection for connecting a first seal body and a second seal body using a sheet piece made of an unvulcanized rubber sheet or a thermoplastic elastomer sheet. A mold, wherein the first
A fixed body that holds one of the second seal body and a movable mold that holds the other of the seal body, and the fixed mold and the movable mold are mounted and relatively moved so that the sheet piece can be abutted. A guide rail is provided, the fixed type and the movable type each have an abutting surface, and can be abutted on at least a part of the abutting surface, each including at least an upper die and a lower die, The upper mold and the lower mold can be held by sandwiching the first and second seals therebetween, and the upper mold and the lower mold are pivotally supported so as to be openable and closable.

Since the mold having such a configuration requires only a single mechanism for moving it in and out, there is an advantage that a large-scale facility is not required and the existing press can be modified and used. The connection operation is also easy.

[0018] In the weatherstrip connecting mold, the contact surface of one of the fixed mold and the movable mold has a shape corresponding to the outer shape of the product, and the projection mold contacts the other mold. Preferably, a part is provided.

With this configuration, the outer shape of the connection portion becomes the same as that of the product, so that finishing is not required. The shape of the protruding mold portion may be any shape as long as its inner periphery, that is, the forming cavity forming surface has a shape corresponding to a product. The term “corresponding” means a case including both approximation and the same.

Further, according to the present invention, the first seal member and the second seal member which are arranged with their end faces facing each other are formed by forming a sheet piece made of an unvulcanized rubber sheet or a thermoplastic elastomer sheet in a thickness direction. A portion which is interposed between the first seal member and the second seal member in a state where the first seal member and the second seal member are connected to each other, and press-contacts at least the first seal member, the second seal member, and the sheet piece. 3. A method of connecting a weatherstrip in which the connection seal portion is formed and connected integrally by heat-treating the first seal body and the second seal using the mold according to claim 1 or 2. A sealing body holding step of holding one of the bodies in the fixed mold and the other in a movable mold, a sheet piece interposing step of attaching and interposing the sheet piece to a contact surface of either the fixed mold or the movable mold, moving The mold and the fixed mold are It is characterized in that it has a bonding step of heating the door piece.

According to the above method, the following effects can be obtained.

1) A core is not required as compared with injection molding. Therefore, the above problems 1) to 4) are avoided.

2) Since the sheet piece can be made thin, the above-mentioned problem 5) is also solved.

3) The same material as the first seal member and the second seal member can be selected as a constituent material of the sheet piece, and a sufficiently strong adhesive force and flexibility can be obtained.

The cross-sectional shape of the first seal body and the second seal body do not need to be the same, but it is preferable that they have the same shape because of good appearance. Further, the first seal body and the second seal body preferably include a hollow seal portion.

When the first seal member or the second seal member has a hollow portion, the hollow portion of the seal portion in the connection portion is closed by the connection sheet portion, but the connection sheet portion is thin. Therefore, it was confirmed that the excellent sealing function due to the compression deformation in the elastic contact of the hollow seal portion as the weather strip after the connection and integration was not significantly adversely affected.

In the manufacturing method of the present invention, a seal material having a hollow seal portion is used as the first seal member and the second seal member. Preferably, a perforating step is provided in which a rod member that can be inserted and is heated to a flow temperature of the sheet piece constituent material or higher is pressed against a position corresponding to the hollow portion of the sheet piece to form a hole. is there.

By providing a hole for connecting the hollow portions of the first seal member and the second seal member to the sheet piece, the compression elastic modulus of the hollow seal portion including the connection portion becomes uniform, which is preferable.

[0029] A weatherstrip of the present invention is characterized in that it is connected by the connection method described above.

A weatherstrip can be obtained in a simple manner and without the need for finishing the connection portion.

[0031]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS <Structure of Weatherstrip> FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a weatherstrip A for a back door used for a back door of an automobile as an example of the weatherstrip. The weatherstrip A is mounted on the body panel 1 on the vehicle body side, and seals the space between the weatherstrip A and the back door panel 2 as an opening / closing member.

The body panel 1 is formed by welding and integrating a steel plate outer panel 1a and a steel plate inner panel 1b at a flange portion 1c, and an interior trim 3 is disposed inside the inner panel 1b. . The door panel 2 is formed by welding and integrating a steel plate outer panel 2a and a steel plate inner panel 2b at a folded back portion. When the door panel 2 is closed, the door panel 2 and the body panel 1 are joined together. A predetermined gap is set between them.

The weatherstrip A is basically provided with a fixed part 4 and a hollow seal part 5. A core member 11 for enhancing strength and shape retention is integrally provided in the substantially U-shaped fixing portion 4. Two pairs of fixing lips 6 and 6 are provided inside the fixing portion 4 so as to press against the flange portion 1c to prevent the fixing lip from coming off.

Outside the fixing portion 4, an outer seal lip 7 acting on the body / outer panel 1a and an interior trim 3
And a trim lip 8 acting on the lip. Fixed part 4
In the free state, the seal portion 5 located at the end of the door panel 2 is elastically deformed toward the compression side by the door panel 2 in the closed state. Is set.

<Regarding Die for Connecting Weatherstrip and Connection Method> FIG. 2 shows a preferred embodiment of the die of the present invention. The mold includes a fixed mold 14 for fixing the end of the first seal body 12 and a movable mold 15 for fixing the end of the second seal body 13, and the movable mold 15 includes a guide rail 19.
Thereby, the near-side and near-side sliding movements are configured so as to be able to abut on the fixed die 14 on the abutting surface. Each of the molds 14 and 15 has a lower mold part 14 a and 15 a, an upper mold part 14 b and 15 b pivotally supported by a hinge 20 so as to be able to swing open and close, and an inner side of the fixed part 4. And three mold parts, namely, middle mold parts 14c and 15c which are nested molds. The cut ends of the first seal body and the second seal body face the contact surface, and are held so as to be adhered by the sheet pieces.

As shown in FIG. 3, the fixed mold 1 of the movable mold 15
On the opposing side surface which is the contact surface with No. 4, it protrudes slightly (about 1 mm) in the seal body connection direction with a narrow width (about 0.5 to 3 mm) around the outer shape of the outer shape of the second seal body 13. A frame-shaped projection 15T is integrally formed. As will be described later, this is to cause an effect of automatically crushing and cutting off excess rubber that has protruded by the vulcanization treatment.

In the method of simply moving the upper mold parts 14b and 15b up and down with respect to the lower mold parts 14a and 15a, in the case of the movable mold 15, both the upper and lower mold parts 15b and 15a are moved with respect to the fixed mold 14. And a mechanism for moving it far and near is required, which complicates the structure. On the other hand, the fixed mold 14 and the movable mold 15 are replaced with the upper mold portions 14b and 15b, and the lower mold portions 14a and 15b.
If the pivoting mechanism 15a is pivotally opened and closed, only a single mechanism is needed to move it in and out, so that there is an advantage that it can be used even with a current press machine.

Next, the connection method of the weather strip is as follows.
For simplification, another weather strip B having a cross-sectional shape similar to that of the above-described weather strip A will be described. This weather strip B is assumed to have a simple cross-sectional shape composed of the fixing portion 4 in which only the outer seal lip 7 is formed and the hollow seal portion 5, and has a linear shape formed by extrusion molding. The case where the first seal body 12 and the second seal body 13 are connected will be described.

Next, a procedure of a method for connecting the first seal body 12 and the second seal body 13 using the above-described dies 14 and 15 will be described.

First, the movable mold 15 is separated from the fixed mold 14 (see FIG. 2), the spacer 16 for setting the seal body is sandwiched between the fixed mold 14 and the movable mold 15, and as shown in FIG. The movable mold 15 is moved close to the fixed mold 14. On one side surface of the spacer 16, the protrusion 1 of the movable mold 15 is provided.
5T (see the hatched portion in FIG. 3) is provided with a protrusion 16a whose size, shape, and length in the width direction are set so as to be internally fitted, and this protrusion 16a fits into the protrusion mold portion 15T. And, the other side surface is set in a state of contacting the end surface of the fixed mold 14 (see FIG. 5).

Next, the first seal body 12 is fixed to the fixed mold 14,
The second seal body 13 is inserted into the movable mold 15 by pushing it in until the respective end faces abut against the spacer 16, or the upper mold parts 14b and 15b are lifted and swung to open each seal body 12 in the open state. , 13 and then upper part 1
4b and 15b are closed and sandwiched, depending on whether each seal body 1
2 and 13 are set in the respective dies 14 and 15 (sealing body holding step). By this operation, the length of the connection portion is set to a predetermined value, and the dimensional accuracy of the entire weather strip is ensured.

Then, the seal members 12, 15 are attached to the dies 14, 15, respectively.
After the movable die 15 is once moved away from the spacer 16 while the spacer 13 is fixed, the spacer 16 is removed, and a sheet piece 17a having a thickness of 0.4 to 1.5 mm made of an unvulcanized rubber sheet is placed between the two dies 14 and 15. (See FIG. 2) (sheet piece interposing step), and the movable mold 15 is moved toward the fixed mold 14 again to sandwich and support the sheet piece 17a between the two molds 14, 15.

Then, as shown in FIG.
Heat treatment is performed in a state in which the mold 7a is pressed and sandwiched between the molds 14 and 15 to form the connection seal portion 17 (adhesion process). That is, since the sheet piece 17a is pressurized and heated by the heat treatment while pressing the movable die 15 toward the fixed die 14, the protrusion 15T of the movable die 15 crushes the sheet piece 17a to fix the fixed die 14. It comes into contact with the abutment surface 14 and thereby functions to automatically remove excess rubber that has protruded, as if it were cut off (see FIG. 6).
As a result, the outer shape of the connection portion becomes similar to the product shape, and the finishing process of this portion becomes unnecessary.

FIG. 7 shows an example in which a perforation step for forming a hole corresponding to the hollow portion of the hollow seal portion 5 of the seal member is provided in the sheet piece 17a. The fixed die 14 holds the first seal body 12, and a sheet piece 17 a is attached to a contact surface F of the fixed die 14 with the movable die. After sticking, the rod member 30 having a dimension equal to or smaller than the shape of the hollow portion of the hollow seal portion 5 is pressed against the sheet piece 17a so as to pass through the hollow portion, so that a hole corresponding to the hollow portion is easily formed in the sheet piece 17a. It is formed.
The rod member 30 is heated to a temperature equal to or higher than the softening temperature of the material forming the sheet piece 17a to be used, and the contact portion with the sheet is softened or melted by pressing the rod tip, so that a hole is easily formed.

The temperature of the rod member 30 is determined by the constituent material of the sheet piece 17a.
It is about ° C. The heating of the rod member 30 may be brought into contact with the heating part of the fixed die 14 or the movable die 15, may be separately housed in a heating device, or may itself have a built-in heater.

The sheet piece 17a is placed in a mold holding the seal body.
When the is adhered, it is difficult to determine the position of the hollow portion, but it is a preferable embodiment to use an appropriate guide for determining the position of the rod member 30.

As the material used for the weatherstrip of the present invention, known weatherstrip materials can be used without any limitation, and polychloroprene rubber, ethylene propylene rubber (EPDM) and the like are preferable as vulcanized rubbers. As the TPE, a polypropylene / vulcanized rubber dispersion type TPE is exemplified as a suitable material, and is made into a foam by a known technique.

As the material for forming the sheet piece, a material having good adhesiveness is selected from the material of the sealing body to be bonded, and it is preferable that the material is the same. The sheet piece is appropriately formed by punching, cutting, or the like from a formed sheet by roll, calender, extrusion, or the like. If an unvulcanized rubber sheet is used,
The bond is formed simultaneously with the vulcanization, and when TPE is used, the bond is formed by melting, cooling, and solidifying the TPE.

As for the heating of the mold required for the heat treatment, the entire mold may be heated, or only the vicinity of the interposed portion of the sheet piece may be heated to a required temperature.

[Another Embodiment] As shown in FIG. 8, in order to connect the first sheet member 12 by extrusion and the second sheet member 18 for the door corner by molding, the connection method according to the present invention, that is, , Uncured rubber sheet piece 17
A method in which a is interposed between the sheet members 12 and 18 and then heat-treated may be applied. Connect the connecting sheet portion 17 to the TP
It may be formed by finishing the E sheet piece 17a.

The gist of the present invention is to interpose a sheet piece of unvulcanized rubber or the like between the opposing seal members and then perform an adhesive process such as a heat treatment. Therefore, as in the above-described embodiment, in addition to the connection between the seal bodies having the same end face shape, basically, even between the sheet bodies having different cross-sectional shapes, if the end face shapes of the portions to be connected are the same, it is satisfactory. Connection and integration can be achieved, and effective connection can be achieved even when one of the seal bodies has the same cross-sectional shape as the other seal body.

Further, according to the connection method of the present invention, it is possible to perform a relatively efficient and strong connection irrespective of whether or not the end face shapes of the connecting portions are the same.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a structure and a mounted state of an automobile weather strip.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a mold facility for connecting a weather strip.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a movable mold showing a projection type part.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing mold equipment with a spacer interposed.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a main part of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a side view of a main part showing a mold facility after vulcanization.

FIG. 7 is a view showing a step of forming a hole in a sheet piece using a rod member.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a part where the extrusion seal body and the molded seal body are connected and integrated.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a procedure for connecting a seal body by conventional molding.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a connection portion in a conventional weather strip.

[Explanation of symbols]

 12 first seal body 13 second seal body 14 fixed mold 15 movable mold 17a sheet piece 19 guide rail

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3D024 AA02 AA17 AB06 AB17 AB21 AB57 4F211 AA11 AA12 AA45 AD05 AD21 AG09 AG14 AG28 AH23 TA02 TC11 TD07 TH02 TH06 TH19 TJ13 TJ14 TJ15 TJ22 TN02 TQ01

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A weather strip connection mold for connecting a first seal body and a second seal body using a sheet piece made of an unvulcanized rubber sheet or a thermoplastic elastomer sheet, 1 seal body, a fixed mold that holds one of the second seal bodies and a movable mold that holds the other, and the fixed mold and the movable mold are mounted and relatively moved so that the sheet piece can be abutted. The fixed type,
Each of the movable dies has an abutment surface, and can be abutted on at least a part of the abutment surface, and each includes at least an upper die and a lower die. A weatherstrip connection mold, which can be held by first and second seals, and wherein the upper mold and the lower mold are pivotally supported so as to be openable and closable. 2. The fixed mold and the movable mold, wherein the contact surface of one of the molds has a shape corresponding to the outer shape of the product, and a projection-shaped portion which is in contact with the other mold is provided. 5. The mold for connecting a weatherstrip according to 4.). 3. A first seal body and a second seal body which are arranged with their end faces facing each other, a sheet piece made of an unvulcanized rubber sheet or a thermoplastic elastomer sheet, and the thickness direction of the sheet piece is the first seal body. The first seal body, the second seal body, and the sheet piece are pressed against each other in a state where the seal body is connected to the second seal body in a connection direction between the two seal bodies. A method of connecting a weatherstrip by forming the connection seal portion and connecting and integrating the connection seal portion, wherein one of the first seal body and the second seal body is used using the mold according to claim 1 or 2. A seal member holding step of holding the other in the fixed mold and the other in the movable mold, a sheet piece interposing step of attaching and interposing the sheet piece to a contact surface of one of the fixed mold and the movable mold, and a movable mold And the fixed mold are brought into contact with each other to Connection method of a weather strip and having a bonding step of heat treatment. 4. A seal material having a hollow seal portion is used as the first seal member and the second seal member. The seal member material can be inserted into the hollow portion of the hollow seal portion following the sheet piece interposing step. The connection of the weather strip according to claim 4, further comprising a perforation step of pressing a rod member heated to a temperature equal to or higher than the flow temperature of the sheet piece constituent material to a position corresponding to the hollow portion of the sheet piece to form a hole. Method. 5. A weatherstrip connected by the connection method according to claim 3 or 4.